Non-photorealistic Renders (NPR)

Comments

The problem is wanting the outline of the character overall to be thick but the details around the face thin, and I don't know if there's an easy way for the script to tell that.

My current workflow does support that, because it supports proper outlines like the Outline script is supposed to (based on Outline ID color), and each render pass can use different line thicknesses, color, threshold, etc.

Djig: Is your thing going to be a freebie, Daz store item, or some standalone thingie?

At this point I was leaning toward DAZ Store if they'll have me. It's completely inside DAZ Studio, and I think it scratches an itch quite a few people have. I'll try and get my act together this weekend so I can have some people try it out and give feedback soon-ish.

At this point I was leaning toward DAZ Store if they'll have me. It's completely inside DAZ Studio, and I think it scratches an itch quite a few people have. I'll try and get my act together this weekend so I can have some people try it out and give feedback soon-ish.

Might be good to get several beta testers before sending it in to Daz, to make sure it's as solid as it can be. The turnaround time for PA submissions can be weeks, even for a simple rejection. Could save a few rounds if you need to make fix ups.

I would also strongly suggest putting together a good readme. Form doesn't matter -- all modern word processors can produce a PDF, and that can be distributed with your package. I mention this because multiple passes, shader scripts, non-typical render cameras, and the like are new concepts for many people, and a few pages of introduction and how-to can help insure your product gets a good response.

From the sounds of it, yours might do quite well. I know I'd be interested (product purchase or beta), and Will seems keen on it, too. My sketch drawings are done primarily in post using custom filters I've created in .NET (see below), but I'm always looking for different ways for different effects.

At this point I was leaning toward DAZ Store if they'll have me. It's completely inside DAZ Studio, and I think it scratches an itch quite a few people have. I'll try and get my act together this weekend so I can have some people try it out and give feedback soon-ish.

Might be good to get several beta testers before sending it in to Daz, to make sure it's as solid as it can be. The turnaround time for PA submissions can be weeks, even for a simple rejection. Could save a few rounds if you need to make fix ups.

I would also strongly suggest putting together a good readme. Form doesn't matter -- all modern word processors can produce a PDF, and that can be distributed with your package. I mention this because multiple passes, shader scripts, non-typical render cameras, and the like are new concepts for many people, and a few pages of introduction and how-to can help insure your product gets a good response.

From the sounds of it, yours might do quite well. I know I'd be interested (product purchase or beta), and Will seems keen on it, too. My sketch drawings are done primarily in post using custom filters I've created in .NET (see below), but I'm always looking for different ways for different effects.

Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning on roping in some beta testers and giving them the product with a link to my in-process documentation (not personally explaining). Any questions I get will point to holes in my design and documentation. I've been using my current setup for quite some time (I think 3 months now -- I'm working on on graphic novel as well) so the core of it is stable and at minimum suits my needs as an artist. I just need to add features that are important to other artists, and verify the changes I make don't break anything.

At this point I think I'm weeks away from a product submission just due to figuring out branding, adding features, and getting some good promo stuff together. I especially appreciate the reminder to explain the advanced features many users may not understand. I know I sure didn't know much about them when I started development on this thing.

Your best yet - awesome! Now all you need to do is script the whole process so you can show us some animations ;)

Stonemason's work really is fantastic - I bought both the sets you've posted images of today (Streets of Old London & Enchanted Forest), and I use them all the time in my testing.

- Greg

Thanks Greg, but I think I will leave the scripting to you !

Yes I I first found the forest one when I was looking for some faery wings, it had been used in the promo. And I only recently bought the amazing London set after seeing that render you did a while back. He really does some nice work I agree, a very skilled person.

But yes, definitely whimsical. And yeah, Widdershins, I've definitely been lured back to NPR. I think it's been helpful to go through the phases I have, and I have SUCH a better idea of what the heck all this stuff does now.

But yes, definitely whimsical. And yeah, Widdershins, I've definitely been lured back to NPR. I think it's been helpful to go through the phases I have, and I have SUCH a better idea of what the heck all this stuff does now.

Never knew they had horns.

NPR seems refreshing to me, I agree it's a bit daunting at first, for a long time I have been going down the realism route, a change is good. I saw in another thread you were lured back to 3DL too, same here. Those renders for the London set were pretty quick, so I am not waiting an hour like I have been with Iray. I do really like Iray, but it's nice to be able to put things together a bit quicker without all the waiting.

For the London one I think I could have made the brick colour a bit more red, more rich, maybe I will have another go. I got some 1920s flapper dresses and I have the Eldritch Seeker set for G2M which looked so good in one of Greg's renders - I think so I might pop them in a scene and have another play with it.

At this point I was leaning toward DAZ Store if they'll have me. It's completely inside DAZ Studio, and I think it scratches an itch quite a few people have. I'll try and get my act together this weekend so I can have some people try it out and give feedback soon-ish.

Might be good to get several beta testers before sending it in to Daz, to make sure it's as solid as it can be. The turnaround time for PA submissions can be weeks, even for a simple rejection. Could save a few rounds if you need to make fix ups.

I would also strongly suggest putting together a good readme. Form doesn't matter -- all modern word processors can produce a PDF, and that can be distributed with your package. I mention this because multiple passes, shader scripts, non-typical render cameras, and the like are new concepts for many people, and a few pages of introduction and how-to can help insure your product gets a good response.

From the sounds of it, yours might do quite well. I know I'd be interested (product purchase or beta), and Will seems keen on it, too. My sketch drawings are done primarily in post using custom filters I've created in .NET (see below), but I'm always looking for different ways for different effects.

Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning on roping in some beta testers and giving them the product with a link to my in-process documentation (not personally explaining). Any questions I get will point to holes in my design and documentation. I've been using my current setup for quite some time (I think 3 months now -- I'm working on on graphic novel as well) so the core of it is stable and at minimum suits my needs as an artist. I just need to add features that are important to other artists, and verify the changes I make don't break anything.

At this point I think I'm weeks away from a product submission just due to figuring out branding, adding features, and getting some good promo stuff together. I especially appreciate the reminder to explain the advanced features many users may not understand. I know I sure didn't know much about them when I started development on this thing.

You can count me in for beta testing too if you need numbers. Have you got a website where you can put up docs and things ?

Here's one I did using Filter Forge. The effect was not bad - I liked the color version best. This was the best filter I found and the other was a bit washed out. I attached the original image for reference.

The filter sure kicked up the file size - went from 602 KB to 1.09 MB, LOL!

I'll never give up Iray, I don't think, because there are such amazing lighting things you can do with it. But a good artist broadens mastery of tools.

Also, yeah, I'd be happy to beta. Among other things, I've actually done QA work before (though on the other side, I have very distracting children)

Iray, 3DL, Luxrender (Luxus/Reality), Octane and Cycles (mcasual has scripts for this) all have their place (those are all the ones with fairly easy Studio exporters/native)...I suppose you could also throw Freestyle on that list (another Blender renderer...NPR is what it was made for, all have their strong points and all are useful and (I don't have Octane) I won't be giving up on any of them.

At this point I was leaning toward DAZ Store if they'll have me. It's completely inside DAZ Studio, and I think it scratches an itch quite a few people have. I'll try and get my act together this weekend so I can have some people try it out and give feedback soon-ish.

Might be good to get several beta testers before sending it in to Daz, to make sure it's as solid as it can be. The turnaround time for PA submissions can be weeks, even for a simple rejection. Could save a few rounds if you need to make fix ups.

I would also strongly suggest putting together a good readme. Form doesn't matter -- all modern word processors can produce a PDF, and that can be distributed with your package. I mention this because multiple passes, shader scripts, non-typical render cameras, and the like are new concepts for many people, and a few pages of introduction and how-to can help insure your product gets a good response.

From the sounds of it, yours might do quite well. I know I'd be interested (product purchase or beta), and Will seems keen on it, too. My sketch drawings are done primarily in post using custom filters I've created in .NET (see below), but I'm always looking for different ways for different effects.

Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning on roping in some beta testers and giving them the product with a link to my in-process documentation (not personally explaining). Any questions I get will point to holes in my design and documentation. I've been using my current setup for quite some time (I think 3 months now -- I'm working on on graphic novel as well) so the core of it is stable and at minimum suits my needs as an artist. I just need to add features that are important to other artists, and verify the changes I make don't break anything.

At this point I think I'm weeks away from a product submission just due to figuring out branding, adding features, and getting some good promo stuff together. I especially appreciate the reminder to explain the advanced features many users may not understand. I know I sure didn't know much about them when I started development on this thing.

You can count me in for beta testing too if you need numbers. Have you got a website where you can put up docs and things ?

Yes, I have OneDrive storage which should serve the purposes of a relatively small group of testers. I'm hoping to get some time this weekend for a few promos and whatever clean-up I need to do.

The filter work I'm seeing is a pretty cool concept I'm going to have to play with a little bit!